Taro Yashima

Taro Yashima (八島太郎, Yashima Tarō) (1908–1994) was the pseudonym of Atsushi Iwamatsu (岩松淳, Iwamatsu Atsushi), a Japanese artist.

He was born in Nejime, Kagoshima in 1908. After studying for three years at the Imperial Art Academy in Tokyo, he became a successful illustrator and cartoonist before going to jail because of his opposition to the militaristic government. In 1939, he and his wife went to the United States to study art, leaving their son Mako behind in Japan. After Pearl Harbor, Mr. Iwamatsu joined the U. S. Army, and went to work as an artist for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). It was then that he first used the pseudonym Taro Yashima, out of fear that if the Japanese Government found out about his employment, there would be repercussions for Mako and other family members. After the war, he and his wife were granted permanent residence status by act of the U.S. Congress; he was able to return to Japan and collect Mako, and his daughter Momo was born.

The New Sun (1943), published under the name Taro Yashima, was a 310 page autobiographical picture book for adults, about life in pre-war militaristic Japan. Its sequel, Horizon is Calling (1947), was in the same style (one picture plus usually 1 or 2 lines of text per page). The 276 page tome continued the story of his life, this time with added Japanese text, and concluded with musings of leaving Japan to study art overseas. In both, he detailed his and his wife's maltreatment by the Japanese secret police.

In the early 1950s, he began writing and illustrating children's books under the pseudonym he had used in the OSS. Crow Boy (1956), Umbrella (1958) and Seashore Story (1967) are Caldecott Honor books.

Mr Yashima returned to his home village of Nejime, Japan, visiting childhood classmates and other familiar scenes which he depicted in several of his children's picture books. Along with film maker Glenn Johnson, they produced a 26-minute documentary, hosted and narrated by Yashima, entitled Taro Yashima's Golden Village.

External links

• De Grummond Collection Taro Yashima page with a biographical sketch.